The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Washington, DC has named the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) as a 2007 Finalist for the George M. Low Award for Quality and Excellence.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Washington, DC has named the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA)as a 2007 Finalist for the

George M. Low Award for Quality and Excellence. NIA was nominated for the award by NASA Langley Research Center based on NIA?s performance and quality on NASA programs over the last three years.The George M. Low Award is NASA?s premier quality-performance award for NASA?s contractors and subcontractors. As a finalist, NIA is being recognized as among the best of NASA?s contracting partners. Of the 18 companies nominated this year, eight were selected as finalists. A NASA Validation Board will conduct a site visit at NIA on October 24, 2007, where they will hear from NIA?s management team and visit faculty and student research laboratories. Awards will be presented on February 26, 2008 at NASA?s Project Management Challenge in Daytona Beach, Florida. ?We are very proud to have been nominated by NASA Langley, and we are honored to have been selected as a finalist,? stated Robert Lindberg, NIA president and executive director. ?Credit, of course, goes to our employees, faculty and students for building such an extraordinary enterprise in five short years.?NIA is a non-profit research and graduate education institute headquartered in Hampton, Va. It was formed in 2002 by a consortium of research universities to ensure a national capability to support NASA?s mission by expanding collaboration with academia and leveraging expertise inside and outside NASA. NIA performs research in a broad range of disciplines including space exploration, systems engineering, nanoscale materials science, flight systems, aerodynamics, air traffic management, aviation safety, planetary and space science, and global climate change. The institute?s graduate program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in the fields of engineering and science through its university partners: Georgia Tech, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, and the College of William & Mary.More information about the National Institute of Aerospace is available at